Backyard Bounty

Here in Maine we are just reaching the point where all the hard work is starting to pay off out in the garden. With a little one on the way, we have kept our garden pretty minimal this year, but still have managed to get some great results. I've been busy making pickles and blueberry everything! Tomatoes are about to explode and the pumpkins are already getting huge!

lifes defining moments

There are moments in life that change us a person- who we are, where we are going, what defines us. They are little milestones along the journey of life that serve as markers for events that make us who we are. Moments you remember forever and how you felt at that moment. I have had very few of these precise life changing moments in my short life. The moment my husband and I said our wedding vows and two became one. The moment I held my grandmothers hand for the last time and studied her face, knowing I would never see her again. Watching the blank stick turn from white to a blue positive. All these moments changed me as a person. One day, when I watch the movie of my life played back, they will be on the highlight reel.
Yesterday I added a moment. My husband and I, on our 3rd attempt to discover the gender and well being of our baby, went to get an ultrasound. Since the first time we went to find out who this little one is, our excitement for the news changed to disappointment and then concern. The baby has been breech and stuck in a cramped position by one of the large fibroid tumors I have. The thrill of finding out gender was instantly trumped by our growing concern that problems were about to arise. I've spent the last week trying to move this baby to a better spot and was feeling like maybe nothing had worked.
Laying on the table at 8:30 yesterday morning, I had no expectations. Just a hope that no more bad news would come our way. I already have a planned c-section, so I can cope with the baby being breech and I will cross the bridge of fibroid removal when i get there (5 years ago I had a 10 lb one removed so this isn't my first rodeo). I just wanted that baby to not be stuck. Please, please move!
"Thank god!" the tech instantly gasped as she started the exam. My head jerked from the screen to her face. Sure enough the baby had found a more spacious home, on my right side, away from the growing invaders. She tells us how worried she was after we left the last time and relief swept our faces. Before the news that we were in the clear (for now anyway- one day at a time!) she tells us the news that only seemed like icing on the cake.....
My emotions came out all at once before my mind had even registered what she had said....laughter, tears and sobbing.....
My husband stood there with tears in his eyes and grabbed my hand.....
We will be the parents of a little boy.

20 weeks

Has your head ever been so jumbled up you have no idea where to begin processing your thoughts? Let alone take a moment to organize them enough to write them down?
Well, that's been me lately!
Our little one decided to be totally uncooperative at the last doctors appointment...so I have no news to report! The baby is breech and hopefully will flip around before our next appointment on June 7th. Not only so we can discover the sex, but so some necessary measurements can be done that couldn't be done last time. We opted not to get several of the genetic testing done (primarily due to cost) so this was our first chance to check in and make sure things are going fine. Needless to say, it was a real learning experience for us. We were really let down when we left the doctors, but after processing it for a bit we realized it wasn't really disappointment. We were so excited we didn't really realize it and were more shocked that things didn't go as we planned! The whole thing suddenly seemed real and we needed to experience that as a couple. I think it got us on the same page. I already feel so much more connected to the baby then I think my husband feels, so it was nice to see this invoke emotion from him.
Next time we will be a little more prepared when this parenting thing doesn't always go like you planned! Every step of this has really been a learning experience. We are growing too just like our little one!

Monday, Monday.

This Monday seems like it's an eternity away and the closer it gets the longer it seems to take to get here.

Monday we find out (hopefully!) if we are having a boy or a girl!
I find myself (and I am sure my husband does too, but he keeps it to himself) day dreaming more and more about what and who this child will be. I get a pang of joy over something that reminds me it could be a girl and then I tell myself to not get my hopes up. I see something that makes me feel it's a boy and I get so excited I can barely contain myself.......and again, tell myself to stop. I have stopped myself from reading the baby name book for the weekend. I'm trying so hard to not get excited one way or another. Really, I think I am trying to talk myself OUT of having a prefference, which maybe deep down I may have.

Whatever the outcome, we are happy, excited, feeling more and more ready and feeling blessed. Whomever this child is, we are really happy to have them in our life!
Stay tuned.... Tuesday morning I should be in a very different mindset!!!

One day I'll have something to write about....

This has been a very odd week. I feel like I have so little to write about, because my life suddenly feels like it is without much fresh exciting things to report. Eat, sleep, work, rub belly, question can I really do this, repeat.
So much soon will be new, maybe I should enjoy this sedentary pace. I am happy and I am excited. But I am also sick of this new body already, worrying about how we will deal with ALL of this and stressing over who I am going to become. I've always wanted kids, but have never looked forward to being pregnant. It some ways it has been very different from what I expected. I have this whole new gratitude to my parents. I feel more "grown up" and less selfish. But I also feel less strong, less sexy and much more vulnerable. My confidence has been replaced by gnawing fears that other people seem to keep planting in my head.
We have been doing our best to pay off bills, save up money, going out to eat together, sleeping in and soaking up the quietness of an empty house. I think we are both ready for someone else to show up here and make life even more interesting.

Inexpensive cusine- Pastys

This is a really easy, very cheap and filling meal! It is a traditional Finnish dish and can be made easily for a family of two or twelve! It is a great way to get non veggie lovers to eat some veggies and non meat lovers to eat some meat. It has really been a hit in our house! If you are making this for 4 people, this is the measurements I would use, but they are not exact, so feel free to add more or less of an item. If making for more people, simply double or triple the recipe. I bet they freeze okay too!

1. Mix 1 1/2 to 2 lbs ground turkey or hamburger with some chopped veggies -celery (about 3 stalks), carrots (2 large ones peeled), a medium onion and a couple peeled chopped potatoes in a bowl. Add 1 half of a rutabaga peeled and shredded. (Even if you don't think you like it- add it! It adds a ton of flavor and cooks down to nothing!) salt and pepper mixture to taste. Mix by hand.


2. Roll out ready made pie crust and cut in half. (If you want to make your own crust go for it- but I don't have time for that!) Put a good handful of the meat mixture on one half and fold over like a small calzone. Seal the edges and poke air holes to vent.


3. Place on greased cookie sheet or glass dish and bake @ 375 degrees for apox 1 hour or until golden brown and meat is cooked through. Is great served with Ketchup!! Enjoy!

You will be surprised how much filling this makes! If you have more filling then crust, you can bake the leftovers like a meatloaf.

****PICS TO FOLLOW ****

I don't care if I live in Maine.... I still don't like it!

While it seems like the rest of the world is watching for budding trees and blossoms, greening grass and mud season, somehow here in Maine we have regressed back into winter!

We are in the 8" to 12" area...... you have GOT to be kidding me!

(Credit to News Channel 13 for their snowmap...)